Tuesday, 18 May 2010

The Cast List

I recently added a “You Might Also Like” widget to this blog and it threw up this post from a couple of years ago. It’s about who I’d cast as the mains characters in the film versions of my books (assuming I could get big name stars to hardcore sex scenes). The books covered were Charlotte’s Secret, Lost & Found, and Reunion. I thought it might be cool to do it again with my two most recent books, namely Kissed by a Rose and Eternally & Evermore.

Kissed by a Rose

This is a tough one due to the age of the characters, who are mostly in their late teens / early twenties. But here goes.

Adam (The Hero) – Young, British, intelligent, etc… He’s good looking, but not a ‘beefcake’. And he has too ooze intelligence and charm but bit a little bit geeky. There’s only really one choice I suppose and that’s Mr Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.

Chloe (The Heroine) – This is really, really hard. Chloe is described as “the best British actress of her generation” and as having “feminine curves” rather than being “stick thin”. So on the shape issue, you’d have to rule out the likes of Kiera Knightly (as much as I hate to) and Emma Watson. I guess what I’m really after here is a nineteen year old version of Kate Winslet – unless Ms Winslet could pull off playing a nineteen year old herself. She’d have to dye those blonde locks though, Chloe’s a Brunette.

Eddie (Adam’s Roommate) – Cassie describes Eddie at one point as “a bit more rugged” than Adam. He’s also not the sharpest tool in the box. This is almost impossible for me, so I’m going to cop out and cast anyone of the male cast members of British teen-soap, Hollyoaks.

Cassie (Adam’s other Roommate) – This is a role I’d like to see Emma Watson take on – just to see if she can play someone who’s about as different from Hermione as it’s possible for a character to be.

Kim (The Other Woman, sort of) – Here’s a problem – Kim is described as being almost Chloe’s double in appearance – although her character couldn’t be more different. Think Ms Winslet could pull a double shift? Through the magic of computer whatnotary, they could even appear on the screen at the same time (the same computer whatnotary that makes her look like a nineteen year old). Or do we have any other suggestions?

There are other characters I should really cast too, like Sam Bradwell and the Hollywood agent, Hilda, but I think these five are the most important.

Eternally & Evermore

I’ve said before that Eternally & Evermore started out as a rewrite of Reunion, but morphed into something completely different. This is particularly true of the characters and the cast I picked for the older story is no longer appropriate. So here’s my pick for the newer story.

Will (The Hero) – Could actually be played by two actors, one as a teenager and one as a thirty-eight year old, (The same could be said for all these except Jeremy) but I’m casting the adults here. Will is bald (ish) but handsome, but what we need in the actor is the ability to project intelligence & confidence. The audience have to trust him. I know he’s a Scot, but we’ve seen in Doctor Who what a good estuary accent he does, so I’d like to see David Tennant in this role – although he’d need a drastic haircut.

Amy (The Heroine) - “A little too thin” is how Will describes her to himself when they meet again after twenty years apart. Amy has had a tough life and this role would be challenging for any actress. We’d need to see her brimming with confidence at times, and very, very vulnerable (almost needy) at others. There is probably only one British actress who’s ‘a bit too thin’ that’s anywhere near talented enough for this role – and I know you’re going to say I’m biased here – Ms Kiera Knightly. She’d need to get the bleach out though, cause Amy’s blonde.

Jeremy (Will’s friend) – Very English. Intelligent. A bit posh. Mid-to-late twenties. Sound like any actor that’s recently taken over the most coveted role on British television? Stand up and take the part please Matt Smith. You’ll even get to drive an Audi R8 at high speed through the English countryside.

Lizzie (Will & Amy’s friend) – Lizzie is fun & flirty, but also Amy’s trusted confidant and is serious about her friend’s welfare. Don’t ask me why, cause I don’t have a answer for you, but I see the lovely Minnie Driver in this role.

John (The bad guy) – I don’t do stereotypes and I like my villains to be a little bit more interesting that just the evil guy who gets in the hero & heroine’s way. John is exactly that. You need to believe he’s a complete and utter bastard, but you also have to understand his motivations, feel his pain and, maybe, even feel a little bit sorry for him. That’s why I’d cast Daniel Craig. He’s done such a good job of actually making Bond seem like a real human being that I can see him doing great things with the role of John Nugent. Plus, it’s easy to believe that Mr Craig would kill you as soon as look at you, which helps when playing a villain who… Opps, nearly gave away a plot point there.

So there we have it – my fantasy cast for two films that will most likely never get made. But it was a fun exercise to do. If you’ve read Kissed by a Rose, do you agree with my casting? Unless you are one of three very special people (one of whom is my publisher), you won’t have read Eternally & Evermore yet as it’s not out, but what do you think of my cast? Good, huh?